New apprenticeships are very important to the future progress of the industry (“Gove: Conservatives to triple apprenticeships”, www.building.co.uk)

As a trainee myself, I see fully the value of putting study and work experience alongside one another. However, it is only owing to the quality of training and guidance from my fellow work colleagues and company that I get this full benefit of work experience.

This push towards more and more places should also consider the levels of tuition and experience with regard to where these apprentices will be placed.

Many of my friends doing apprenticeships have had nowhere near the levels of commitment and guidance that I have received from my company. In some cases they have been completely let down by their employer owing to inadequate training, or by too much being placed on them too soon.

Many young people want to learn about their desired field of employment while working in that field, yet many employers don’t consider that in taking on an apprentice they have a duty to foster this young person’s development by training them over time.

What provisions will be in place to ensure that this is correctly understood by these already stretched companies?

James (via building.co.uk)

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